St. Michael's Catholic Preparatory School (formerly St. Michael’s Catholic Academy) is a private college preparatory school in Barton Creek, a community in unincorporated Travis County, Texas (Greater Austin), with an enrollment of approximately 750 students in grades PreK-12. It is within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin. In 2023, it was merged with its sister school, St. Gabriel’s Catholic School, as one unified school. However, both schools still kept their own campuses. In 2024, the school (including St. Gabriel's) officially renamed to St. Michael's Catholic Preparatory School. The student-teacher ratio is approximately 10 to 1, and the mean ACT Composite is 26.6. In 2015 and 2016, St. Michael's won the Class 4A Henderson Cup, awarded by the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools for excellence in academics, fine arts and athletics. In 2016, St. Michael's won four state championships: academics, women's tennis, women's cross country and men's track and field. In athletics, St. Michael's has won more than 30 state championships. Many former St. Michael's student-athletes have played, or are now playing, Division 1 sports at the college level including American football, baseball, basketball, track and field, golf, volleyball, cross country, baseball and soccer.

Background

The school was established in 1984 to fill the void left by the closing of the only Catholic high school in Austin in 1972. From 1972 to 1984, Austin was the only sizable city in the USA without a Catholic high school. A small group of parents and Catholic lay leaders commissioned a study that ultimately revealed enthusiasm in the Austin community for such a school. In 1984, St. Michael's Catholic Academy opened. It was one of the first Catholic schools in the USA established entirely by lay persons.

Notable alumni

Notes and references